Le Peitite Morte
by Delegara
Summary: Ever wonder what its like to walk on the dark side?
1. Chapter 1

**Alright, this is a fanfiction dedicated to BokunoVriska on Tumblr. Because she really wanted it. So here it is. I really don't know how long its going to be, but we will see.**

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><p>Vriska tapped a heeled foot against the moist pavement. She could tell it had rained recently, not because the cement was wet, but because the air itself felt wet, humid. Her head turned to her left, hand going into her pocket as she adjusted her shoulders against the wall of the building, bringing her free hand to her mouth. Smoking was a horrible habit, but it made her seem cooler and calmed her down. Well, in her eyes anyways. She was sure to everyone else, it just made her look like a deliquent. Then again, she was, so why hide who she was?<p>

"What are you doing?" The small voice made Vriska whip her head around. Beside her stood a brightly coloured girl, long black hair poofing out around her arms. It was so long, but curly at the same time. She contrasted to the area around her.

"What do you want?" Vriska dismissed Feferi by looking away and taking another drag from her smoke.

"I want you to stop this." She clutched hard at the plastic bag in her hand. Even though she wasn't looking, she could still hear the way the plastic crinkled in the palm of her fragile hand, constricted by her fingers. Vriska's eyes fell to the ground. She knew what she meant, but she still had to ask.

"Stop what." It wasn't a question. It was directed more so to be a threat, but it still came out sounding slightly intruiged.

"Vriska, seriously! Don't act like you don't know!" Feferi's hand was on the sleeve of Vriska's lether jacket. "Do you think I don't notice? How did you get this? You didn't have it when you left for school this morning." Vriska didn't look. Feferi's eyes grew wide with realization, her hand releasing the leather as she took a step back. "You didn't go this morning did you?"

"Its not like it matters. I don't need what they're teaching me. I don't plan on doing anything-"

"That's not the point Vriska! Go to school and better yourself so you're not whoring yourself out on the street corner!" Feferi's voice was loud, screaming. Vriska had never heard it reach such a high octave. Vriska's eyes were wide as she looked over at her friend, her room mate. They'd moved in together, attempting to get away from the confined lives of their parents, both for different reasons. Feferi wanted to prove she could look after herself, while Vriska wanted to get away from her nagging mother. Feferi was turning into her mother though.

"I'm not whoring myself out. What makes you think that?" Vriska's voice shook. She was attempting not to scream at her, but it was proving difficult.

"Look at yourself. You can't tell me you're not doing something illegal. Damn it Vriska, you're hardly legal!"

"I'm legal in three months." Vriska beamed triumphantly.

"But your not legal right _now_." Feferi hated this. She was turning eighteen, but she seemed to think she'd already _turned_ eighteen. The two were completely different things to an officer. "Just come home, please? I promise not to tell anyone you didn't go to school. I'll tell the teachers you were sick at home with the 24 hour flu or something okay?"

Vriska sucked in her lip, looking away. She hated this. How could she say no to her, when she offered to protect her ass? Snarling, she pushed away from the wall, taking a quick drag from her smoke before tossing it to the ground. "24 hour flu and nothing less, got it?" She pointed an accusing finger in Feferi's face before brushing past her and starting for home. Feferi's eyes fell before she slowly turned and started following after her friend.

Feferi always wondered what happened to her. She'd been such a nice kid as a child. Always smiling, always laughing. Then her father passed away, and then a boyfriend. Who deserved such a thing? Two deaths to people you loved so strongly. Vriska had started coming to school less and less often as time continued forwards. Eventually, Feferi found her out on the streets, passed out high or drunk. To Vriska, it didn't matter. Feferi caught up with Vriska, giving her a scrutenizing look. "What happened to your French accent? I know you have one." Vriska blushed.

"Well...eh. I try and hide it when I'm out." Vriska rolled her shoulders as she let her accent slip back. She spoke english so well, but she'd been raised in a french speaking community, so she'd picked up the accent. "Why? You like it?"

"Well, your not Vriska without the accent. To me anyways." Feferi shrugged. She'd started skipping along side Vriska. All she could see out of the corner of her eye was Feferi's head bobbing up and down. She had to be a good foot or so taller than her. "So, think we can work on...weaning you off some of the drugs? Just a few."

So this is where it was going. She just wanted her to sober up and go to school like a good girl. "I'm not changing, just because you think I should." Vriska yelled, not even bothering to look where she was going. She slammed hard into a boy walking towards them. "Watch where you're fucking going you retard." She sneared. The boy looked up through his shaggy hair, giving her the exact same expression.

"I was. Your the twat who decided she was fucking queen of the world and owned the damn side walk. Jesus Christ get your head out of your fucking ass." He didn't even bother waiting for an answer from her before he walked off.

"What did you-" Vriska started, only to have a hand clamped around her mouth. She fought Feferi off and rounded on her. "What are you doing?"

"Don't." Feferi's voice was soft. "Don't you know who that is?" When Vriska just gave her a confused look, she continued on. "That's Karkat Vantas. He's the schools biggest delinquet. He's been in and out of jail all year. I think he'd been in jail more than he has school. He's bad news. The other day he knocked a kid unconcious for knocking over his tray of food." Feferi's eyes darted around, looking anywhere but Vriska. "I just...didn't want you to get hurt."

"I highly doubt I would get hurt. Incase you haven't noticed, I'm pretty much like that dick-wad."

"R-right...sorry. I forgot. I just...keep thinking of you like that little girl I grew up with." Feferi giggled nervously. "C'mon, lets go home."

"Sure."


	2. Chapter 2

**Alright guys, you can find my Fanfic Tumblr here: LandofEmptyBuckets it'll be for my Fanfiction account only. So I'll be posting when new updates occur, and what's happening with my fanfics :3**

**Also, please note that its kind of...meh right now this story. I have an idea for it, its just kinda hard for me to work towards it, but I think I've got it figured out now. And no, this isn't some sort of teenage-angst story. It's fantasy, so enjoy xD**

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><p>Vriska eyed the teacher, head in hand while her pencil slowly tapped the top of the desk. She had boundaries of course, and these kids were here to learn, why should she interrupt them with the sound of her pencil hitting the desk with a loud <em>thump, thump, thump<em>? To be honest, she wasn't paying attention to a word the teacher was saying. Feferi had convinced her to come to school today, however she had fought with her. Mind you, Feferi managed to win. A small sigh was forced through her nose as she closed her eyes.

"Vriska, is something the matter?" One eye slid open. The teacher, along with a handful of students, were looking at her.

"No. Not really." Vriska sat up, pushing her hands against the table top to stretch out her back.

"That makes it sound like there is something wrong. Would you like to speak with me after class?"

"Definatly not. Thanks though." Vriska gave her teacher the best smile she could manage, but he only glared at her before returning to his lesson. Everyone knew Vriska didn't want to be there, so why did she bother coming? Well, today she was more curious about the ass-wipe that ran into her the day before. Karkat Van-Ven-ugh, whatever his last name was. It wasn't like it mattered to her anyways. Vriska looked down at the sheet of lined paper she'd pulled out. Nothing was written on it. It was merely there to make it appear that she was paying attention, and to keep her from thinking out loud, which is what she felt a need to do.

Vriska leaned forwards, hovering over the page as she started scribbling on the page.

_I need to talk to Kanaya today. Need to see if she can find more information on Karkat. _

_Also, need to figure out what the fuck is his problem._

_Maybe I'll just leave her to find out why he's in and out of jail so much. Mind you, that might not be as hard as it sounds. Probably been in and out of the rumour mill by now. _

Vriska scratched at her head with the erasered-end of her pencil, staring down at the page. She knew there was more to it than just that. Something about him seemed off.

_Need to talk to the institution to see if there's been any run-away cases._

Leaning back, she held the paper up slightly and studied her notes. Yeah, that sounded right. Her eyes flicked over to the clock. Class would be over soon, and she could find Kanaya and talk to her.

Kanaya was her partner, a friend she'd met through the Institution, a place where cursed people go to be freed of whatever has doomed them. In return, they hunted people who had been changed, infected, or 'poisioned' as they'd termed it. Depending on your curse, you were given a special ability. This was how they kept 'myths', myths, and 'legends', legends. It was hard, but it wasn't like she couldn't handle it. Maybe that's why Feferi thought she was up to no good. It panned out too. She was up all night, hated being awake during the day, wore odd looking clothes, and had started habits that really weren't healthy for her. Not that she was doing drugs, but she wasn't about to deny that to her over obsessive room-mate.

When the bell rang, Vriska snatched up her paper and books and darted for the door. Kanaya had been in math class, so she started in that direction. Hopefully she'd run into her on her way to her locker. If not, she'd search for her. It wasn't like she wanted to go to Biology today. Well, on second thought, she did. It happened to be one of her favourite classes, but she was so far behind it seemed a little pointless now. "Kanaya!" She called, spotting her down the hall. One arm flew into the air as she waved her over.

"What's up?" Kanaya's tone was casual, laced with a slight british accent, but then it changed. "You're not speaking with your accent."

"Shut up." Vriska gave her a hard look as her accent slipped back. "Okay, so know anything about Karkat?"

"Vantas? Hell yes! Why the sudden interest?" Now it was Kanaya's turn to eye her up.

"I ran into him, but that's not the point. Feferi was talking about him." Vriska looked around. "Lets start moving. It'll look odd if we just stand here." Kanaya shrugged and started for her locker. "So, anyways, she was explaining how he was always in and out of jail, and I got to thinking, why?"

"Why he's in and out of jail? He's a delinquent. Why else?" Kanaya dropped her books into her locker, kicking them once to make sure they were in before she started fishing for her Biology work. They happened to have the class together.

"No no. You're not seeing it how I am. Something seems off about it. He puts up a front, but...it seems forced, you know?"

"So basically, you want me to dig a little dirt up on him? See just how big this hole is?"

"Exactly." Vriska smiled at her.

"And what exactly are you going to do?" Kanaya slammed her locker shut. It opened perfectly, but the moment you tried to close it, it would jam up and stop moving. She'd asked to switch lockers, but they denied her.

"Talk to the Institution. See what they have to say about it. If there's any missing or run-away cases. And of course, get under his skin a little. Maybe he'll crack if I snuggled up you him." Vriska wiggled her brows. She was kidding, but it didn't hurt to tease a little.

"Go get your books you horny whore." Kanaya shoved her out of the way and Vriska followed. Who needed books. "I'm serious."

"Alright, alright. Don't have a unicorn."

"Oh har har, your so funny."

"I thought so." Vriska stopped, wrenching open her locker while Kanaya shook her head and continued on. If Vriska had been paying attention at all during the year, she would've known what was waiting for her in Biology besides a classroom full of students, her partner and a cranky middle-aged teacher.


	3. Chapter 3

**Yeah, you guys can see what I've been doing since I lost internet. Have fun! xD**

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><p>Biology. The teacher assumed it would be fun to partner everyone up randomly, drawing names from a hat to keep it fair. To be honest, Vriska sat near the front of the class with Kanaya, so she only ever noticed the few that sat near her. <em>She<em> wanted to sit near the back where she could keep from paying attention, or scribble down notes about life when they popped into her head. But no, instead she was forced to pay attention the entire class, and keep from writing down anything she found important.

But that wasn't what was important right now. What was important were the two names she called to be paired up. _Vriska and Karkat_. Vriska's eyes went wide, the one name repeating in her head. _Karkat._

_Karkat._

_Karkat._

He was in her Biology class? Naturally, she turned to figure out where he was. His hand rose into the air as he waved to her from the back of her row. Oh man, he sat in the same row as her? Damn.

"Alright, pair up." The teacher called, her high pitched, raspy voice carrying through the class.

Vriska scratched at her arm a little more than normal before she got up. Her skin felt like something was crawling underneith it. It meant a Vampire was within range. Kanaya gave her a concerned look. She knew what was going on, but Vriska only gave her a saddened look before moving to sit with Karkat. In a way, this was good, but at the same time, they were doing a dissection and a lab with lots of fun questions. This was going to be a long class.

"Hey." Vriska said, attempting to sound...well nice.

"Oh for fuck sake." Karkat breathed, realizing who he was paired up with.

"What's that supposed to mean." Vriska narrowed her eyes at him.

"I'm paired up with Queen-of-the-fucking-world, that's what it means." Vriska rolled her eyes, sitting down.

"Well, it's not like I asked for this."

"Of course not. Alls fair when it's drawn from a hat."

"Dur." Now Vriska was ticked that she'd come to class. She should've just skipped, then life would be easier. Vriska could feel her skin twitching. It meant that someone cursed like her was near-by. Closer than before. That was the special ability she'd recieved.

Vriska had been cursed by a Vampire, but not bitten. While she'd gained some Vampire abilities, such as hating sunlight and having fangs, she wasn't able to change or curse people. As far as she knew anyways. That's what they'd told her. Because of it, she was given the ability to hunt Vampires. It made her skin crawl with excitement when they were within a miles radius of her. Now she was hunting that Vampire. If she could kill him, she'd be freed from her curse and could return to her normal life. Vriska didn't think it would be that easy though. After having lived this secret life for so long, she felt like she'd be lost once it was gone.

"Are you even listening to me?" Karkat sounded more than annoyed, making Vriska blink and look over at him with an expression that looked far from pleased.

"No. Please re-elaborate as to whatever the fuck it was you were talking about."

"Great. I knew this was going to be a fun class." Vriska's brow twitched for a moment. Not because of what he said, but because of what she thought she saw. Slowly she leaned forward a bit, trying to get a better look. Had she seen a fang? "What the fuck are you doing?"

"Nothing." She said, dismissing it when she didn't see it again.

"You're a fucking creep, you realize that?"

"Yeah, and so are you. Congrats. Want a gold star for that achievement?" Vriska wasn't looking at him now, instead she was looking at the frog cut open infront of her. Oh, lovely. She loved half dead things.

"Not really." Karkat snarled. "I was asking if you wanted to poke it or something, since I'd taken the luxury of cutting it open."

"I noticed. Thanks for that." So, getting under his skin and finding out more about him would be harder than she'd imagined. Not that she imagined it being easy. Vriska slid her finger forward, poking a good majority of the frogs organs. They felt weird under her finger. Still moving, still alive. It reminded her of all the people she'd had to off because there was no salvation for them.

"Wow, you sure zone out a lot."

"Yeah, well, lifes not always sugar and rainbows like some expect it to be." Vriska said matter-of-factly. This made Karkat stay quiet for a while as he wrote down some things. She supposed she should be doing that too, and decided to follow suit.

"Sorry. I didn't realize. What's wrong exactly, if I may ask?" What was with the sudden change of heart? It made Vriska feel on edge, more so than the tingling in her arm. She'd managed to control the twitching, now her arm just felt slightly numb.

Vriska shook her head. "I don't know if I can explain. Its kind of...abnormal."

"I understand. Completely actually." Now Vriska gave him a confused look. Was he following her, or was he misunderstanding? She shook it off. There was no reason to dig deeper into that one.

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><p>"Did you find it?" Vriska asked, speaking into a small device on her shoulder.<p>

"No. I have no idea where it went." Kanaya's voice shook a little with fear, her accent almost engulfed by it. Vriska squinted, looking around at the dark terrain. Right now, she was acting as watch out, standing atop a building. She couldn't see Kanaya from here because of all the trees littering the ground, but she knew where she was.

"Start hiking back to me. I want to keep a good visual on you."

"What about you?" Kanaya wasn't asking about keeping Vriska safe, she was inquiring about the area behind Vriska. She quickly took a shoulder check before responding.

"Clear."

"Alright, I'm moving now." Vriska watched the blockade of trees where she'd last seen Kanaya run into. It wasn't long before she saw movement.

"Keep on your toes. I'm not sure if that's you that I saw moving, or the wolf." Right now, they were hunting a rouge-Werewolf, someone who'd been cursed, but eventually succumed to being infected. It happened, but it was more common in Weres. The curse would leak into the cells of the cursed, eventually infecting them with Were DNA. The result? Rouge-Were.

"Got it." She could hear rusting from the otherside of the communicator. She hoped that was simply Kanaya moving around in the bush. Vriska squinted a little harder. It looked like a bigger piece of movement than just Kanaya and her blade.

"I'm coming to back you up, I think it's tailing you." Vriska pulled out her blade. Each person's weapon was physically part of them, each coming from a unique region on a person's body. Vriska's was from her soul, taking on the form of a Scythe. She thought it was powerful, bone looking in design, but it was also fairly delicate.

Vriska was on the ground running in a matter of seconds. The last thing she needed was her partner to be whacked off. "Oh God Vriska help!" Kanaya's voice was a high pitched screach that make Vriska cover her ear. She could hear it though, the sound of some sort of monster snarling at her.

"Fend it off!" Vriska yelled back. "I'm almost there." But she never responded. Instead, all Vriska got were some screams and snarls. "Damn it Kanaya, fight back!"

"I can't." Kanaya was sobbing, and something inside her dropped to the pit of her stomache. Couldn't? Why couldn't she?

Vriska skidded to a halt meters away from the two. The Werewolf had Kanaya pinned down, her weapon out of reach. It was then Vriska realized whey she couldn't. The Were had started to turn back into a human. Etched on his face were the features of Kanaya's younger brother. Why hadn't they been told? Vriska bit her lip, it wasn't fully human yet, so it had no human instincts. It would attack her any minute now. "Kanaya run!" Vriska yelled, darting forward, scythe brandished. Kanaya wrenched herself free from her brothers grip, running for her chainsaw. Vriska almost had no time to react as the clawed paw of the beast lunged forwards, grazing her side as it continued onwards for Kanaya. Shit, this wasn't good.

In a matter of two seconds, two things happened. One, Kanaya let out a blood curtling scream, and the second, Vriska's weapon dug into the snout of the beast. Vriska was on top of this, using her enhanced strength to throw the thing back before finishing it off. "Kanaya?" She asked, breathing hard as she looked back at her friend. Kanaya was still sobbing, but she was moving awkwardly on the ground, one hand in the air, opening and closing into a fist, while the other was on her side. She was injured.

"I'm calling for help!" Vriska slid to her friends side, changing the channel on her reciever. "Team Alpha two calling Signal. We need a medic squad stat. One injured." Vriska's eyes never left Kanaya. It was so hard. Kanaya was in pain, but she kept trying to hold back her screams. The ground was painted red with blood, which was now seeping into Vriska's jeans.

"Vrisk?" Kanaya finally managed to gag. "I'm not going to make it."

"Shut up, yes you are." Vriska felt tears prick her eyes. Now it was her turn to lean over Vriska. "Don't say things like that."

"I may survive, but I'm not going to be your partner anymore. I can't." Kanaya's voice broke into a squeak. "I'm infected." Vriska's brows meshed.

"No. You were cursed by a pixie, you can't be infected by a Were." Vriska shook her head.

"I can feel it." Her voice was soft, almost a whisper as she closed her eyes. "I'm sorry I can't dig more up on Karkat. I hope you're not the one who has to hunt me."

"Don't say that!" Vriska screamed. "You're not a Were, your not infected. You're still my partner. We'll take you to the Infections and Poisions unit. They'll fix you. They'll fix you."

Kanaya smiled, petting the top of Vriska's head with a bloodied hand. "Alright." She whispered.

She knew better. She knew so much more than she was letting onto.


	4. Chapter 4

**Here's some more crackpairing fanfic chapters for you guys xD omg that sounded so weird.**

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><p>"You're going to be ok, okay?" Vriska said, panic in her voice as the medics came and got Kanaya. They were running as they wheeled her along. "Nothing's wrong with you. You're just...just okay, okay?" No matter how many times Vriska said it, she just couldn't get over the heavy feeling in the pit of her stomache that told her otherwise. Something deep down told her Kanaya was telling the truth, and if she survived this, she'd end up being hunted sooner rather than later. Tears begain to prick her eyes.<p>

"Don't cry." Kanaya said in a weak voice. "I'm sure you're right. I'm fine, I'm just over thinking things." A smile crept across her face, but it looked pained. "I can't believe my brother was one of them."

Vriska's voice caught in her throat, making a squeak instead of words. That'd be horrible. She had no family, but Feferi was like a sister to her. What would Feferi think if she found out she was technically a vampire, concidering the side effects of being cursed? Would Feferi still like her? Or would Feferi kick her out, expect her to live on her own. "I'm so sorry." Vriska finally manages to choke out. "I don't know how that would feel, but I understand it from a friends point of view, and it really hurts."

Kanaya nods. "I hope Feferi never finds out. She'd think you were on some type of drug and kick you out...wouldn't she?"

That struck a nerve. Did it seem like all she did was drugs, and not hunt down people who threatened the delicate balance of the world? Vriska clenched her teeth. She hated that. Everyone seemed to think lowly of her. "Probably." She finally said, stopping completely. The medic unit continued on with Kanaya. She couldn't be around her anymore. She needed time to herself. "I'll come find you after, okay?" Vriska said into her headset.

"I'll make sure to tell these guys that." Kanaya seemed to understand. That was all she needed. Vriska turned around, starting back for the werewolf. He couldn't stay there any longer. Someone would stumble upon him, and that would just ruin everything. It'd end up in the papers, across every television screen in the country. And who would be blamed for it? That's right, Vriska. So, all she had to do, was find the body, haul it off some where and dispose of it, then return to the scene of the crime and clean up. Mind you, this was easier with two people. "Guess I'll have to work fast." Vriska told herself, scratching the back of her head.

The sun was barely beginning to rise when she made it back. Just enough light to allow someone to see, but not enough that people would be up. She could see the body off in the distance but...something was off about it. Part of it looked bigger than normal and moved slightly. That's when Vriska's heart begain to race. Her skin was crawling just being this close to the carcass. A vampire? But how, she hadn't been gone that long. None of them should've found out. What if it was the guy she was after. Slowly, she started moving towards it, taking her weapon back out.

"_Le petite morte._" Vriska said, letting the blade of her scythe wrap around her victims neck. "The little death. Any last words before I kill you?" The boy in front of her looked so familiar, but at the same time, like a stranger. Until he turned around. "Karkat?" Her voice was small. What the hell was going on.

Karkat's expression went from shock and confusion to anger and hunger in the matter of a second. That's when he shot up at her, attempting to get his claws around her neck and strangle the life out of her. Vriska was faster though, reacting quickly as she took a chunk out of his arm, dragging her scythe across his chest while she lept away. Karkat hissed, falling to the ground as he grabbed at his wounds. "What are you doing? Karkat...you're not..." Vriska was so confused.

"What's happening to me?" His voice was shaking, as was his body. He looked like he wanted to get back up and fight, but he couldn't.

"You're a Vampire. Someone changed you." She said slowly, making sure not to let down her guard. "How long have you been-"

"I'm not a Vampire!" Karkat roared before falling over in pain. He stayed there for a moment before he pushed himself back up. "I haven't been...I'm not...there's no way..."

"Well, unfortunatly its my job as a recon unit to take you out. Might as well let me do it quickly. Something will be told to your parents, who can then relay it to the school. I'm sure you'll be missed." Vriska raised her weapon, getting ready for the kill.

"Wait, your recon unit? Then you can help me!"

"What? How do you figure that? I don't help infected, I kill them." Vriska corrected.

"No, I work with the infections and poisioning unit. We try and help people like me who start to turn. If you escort me back, they can get me an antidote that will keep me from changing." Karkat said, eyes wide with worry. "I promise."

Vriska couldn't exactly argue with what he said. It wasn't like any normal person new about the units. "If I do that, you'll be switched." She said. Karkat gave her a confused look, which provoked a sigh from her. "If you're changed from being infected to...tainted lets say, you'll be forced to be on the recon unit, which means you'll be hunting and killing the infected, instead of attempting to save them. You'll be forced to find the person who did this to you, and kill them."

Karkat looked down for a moment, studying his bloodied hands. Could he do something like that? Could he kill people instead of saving them. Slowly, he looked at the body behind him he'd just been feeding off of, and then he had his answer. "Yeah. I'll do it. Just please, save me."

Vriska smiled. "Stand up. I can change you right now." Karkat gave her a confused look, but did as she said. She moved towards him, holding her hand against his chest. "This'll hurt, but this is how we create cursed from infected people. We isolate that which is infecting them, and use it to make a weapon. Mind you this only works if you are infected by one thing, and not two. Or infected and cursed." Vriska closed her eyes. She'd been taught how to do this by one of the higher ups. As a vampire, it was almost her given right to look into the bodies of people. She could see how their blood flowed, which made it easier to locate infections like this.

Karkat's looked like a purple heart, all bruised and infected. She latched onto that, and started to pull, hearing Karkat scream as she did it. "This, is your weapon." She announced. "From now on, you work for us, and us alone." There was a bright light then it faded, revealing a petrified looking Karkat, and Vriska holding something small in her hand. "Take it, it's your weapon."

"My weapon?" He asked, holding out his hands to take it. Vriska dropped it, and it formed into two sycles. "What the-"

"Like I said, you're weapon. This proves that you're not longer infected, but cursed." Karkat looked up, jaw open as he studied her weapon.

"So then...does that mean you were infected once too?"

Vriska gave Karkat a look, then realized what he was saying. "Oh, no. If you're cursed like me, you have to go through something different to recieve your weapon. I was never infected, so I had to be taught how to do that, instead of well...basically having someone else look for it and figure out how to...get it I guess." Vriska shrugged.

"So...I guess this means I have to start killing people huh?" Karkat sounded saddened by this.

"Kind of. Don't thikk of them as people, and its not so bad anymore." Vriska brushed past Karkat, picking up the body of her friends brother. He no longer looked like a were, which made it a little easier to dispose of the body. She could leave it somewhere for a human to find. With a sigh, she turned back to face Karkat. "Clean this area up, okay?"

"What?" Karkat was confused, but realized what she meant. "Oh...how do I do that?"

"I'm sure you'll figure it out. I have to put this where someone will find it." She gestured towards her arms. "I'll be back for you in a bit okay?"

"Alright..." Karkat stooped down to start mixing the blood in with the earth. He figured that'd be easiest.

"Welcome to the team. I hope you enjoy your stay." The way she said it, almost seemed like she was welcoming him into hell.


	5. Chapter 5

**Okay, I lied. One chapter before I go away for the weekend. :3 I felt bad because I haven't updated this one in so long...I promise once I get things all sorted out, I'll be updating this one a little more often!**

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><p>Vriska ended up leaving the body out on the street, using her weapon to create more of a scene and a viable exuse for his death. Then, she returned to Karkat. He was still messing around with the ground, which provoked her to help him. He said nothing for a while, as she dug into the ground, creating a hole to burry some of the bloodied leaves. That's when Karkat broke, bringing his wrists to his eyes, afraid to get blood on his face.<p>

"I'm so sorry." Karkat sobbed, attempting to control himself a little. "I didn't mean..." Now he just didn't care. He caved in on himself, using his hands to hide his eyes.

"Don't cry. Its not very becoming. There will be harder days...days where you wonder if its worth continuing on." Vriska said, folding her arms over her knees. She was reminising in the recent battle. "I almost had to kill two people I care for. Luckily, one of them got saved. Sadly another is dead, and his sister is currently back at base."

Karkat hiccuped, looking to Vriska. Only now did he realize how bloody she was. It was smeared everywhere, from the top of her head right down to her shoes. Vriska smiled at him. "But she'll be okay. I believe in her. She wont let a were take control of her. Not after a pixie has."

"She was cursed?" Karkat asked. "Twice? Is she still allowed to be on the recon unit?"

"If they can figure out a way to isolate the were in her, then yes, she will still be allowed to be on the recon unit." Vriska remained quiet for a moment, chewing on her nail. "But if they can't..." her eyes dropped. "Then I'll be forced to kill her. That's what it means to be partners."

"Wait, your paired up to eventually end their life?" Karkat sounded angry, and jumped to his feet to prove just that.

"Its part of the game, Karkat. What good are you to them, if you can't even hunt those who threaten the balance of our world? What happens if you turn into one of them, and there is no one around to stop you? We're stronger than those we hunt, we've harnessed our abilities." Vriska said, getting to her feet. She got right into Karkat's face. "What do you think your friends and families would say, if there wasn't someone watching your back to make sure you didn't lose control? What do you think they would do, when you showed up on their doorstep ready to kill them? Hmm?"

"But I-" Karkat stammered.

"You wouldn't? No, you won't. You know why? Because I'm your partner, and as your partner it is now my responsibility to make sure that you don't go crazy, but if you do, then it's my job to kill you." Vriska spat. "And don't think I wont."

Karkat lowered his eyes, nodding. "Can we go home?"

"Nope. We can't. We need to go to base. You need to be sprayed down and analized, I need to be sprayed down and check up on my _other_ partner." Vriska informed. "Follow me."

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><p>Karkat didn't argue. He simply followed orders untill they returned to base. Unfortunatly for him, he wasn unfamiliar with the Recon Unit section of Base. He had no idea how it worked, or what was in store for him. "That way." Vriska pointed. "Down the hall, second door to your right. They'll spray you down there. Inform them that your a new unit on Alpha two. They'll know what to do from there."<p>

"You're not coming with me?" Karkat asked sounding worried. "Why not?"

"Well for one, they're going to strip you down to your nitty-gritties, and like hell I want to see that." Vriska turned to face Karkat. "Secondly, they're most likely going to probe you, which makes me wonder '_why do I want to see that?_' " Vriska raised her brows, not as high as Karkat's though.

"Wait they're going to what? No no, I'm not going there." Karkat held up his hands, shaking his head. "They're not probing me, or or...or anything!"

Vriska nodded to a couple of guards. "Go peacefully, or I'll have someone take you forcefully. I'm leader, not you Karkat. Understand?"

The two guards bumped into Karkat so he knew they were there. Karkat looked at both of them before the floor. "Understood." He said, raising his head so he could glare at Vriska. "But I'm not one to stop fighting. I'm not a horse you can break."

"I'll try and keep that in mind." Vriska turned and started for the wing they'd be keeping Kanaya in while Karkat willingly started for his spray down. She was only kidding about the probing, but one could never be too certain.

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><p>"Kanaya?" Vriska asked. She was forced to stand on the other side of a window, looking into a pure white room. Obviously something was wrong if they were making her speak into a mic just to talke to her partner. "Can you hear me?"<p>

Kanaya turned her head to look at the window, a small smile forming on her lips. "So you did come." Her eyes slid closed. "I'm glad."

"I said I would. I'll get you out of here no matter what." Vriska promised. Her nails dug into the ledge of the window. "I saw Karkat."

Kanaya's eyes peeled open faster than Vriska could register. "What?" She asked. "When? Why?"

"When I went back to clean up the...area." Vriska said, attempting to keep from reminding Kanaya of her brother. "He was there...he'd been cursed by a Vampire."

"So you had to kill twice tonight." Kanaya said. "How unfortunate."

"No. I didn't kill him." Vriska chewed her lip. "I turned him into one of us. You know, that thing I'd been taught? I guess he'd just turned Vampire. He was worried and scared so..."

"You did the right thing Vriska." Kanaya smiled. "He doesn't deserve to die, no matter what people think of him. He has so many secrets...you don't even know."

Vriska gave Kanaya a weird look. "What do you mean?" Kanaya didn't answer, just shook her head. Vriska chuckled. "Still keeping things from me?"

Now Kanaya laughed. "In due time my friend. You'll learn what you need to. For now...for now don't worry about me. I'll be fine. You told me that, remember?" Kanaya smiled. "They've managed to seclude the lupin DNA that got in. But they don't know how long they can keep me like this. They think they might-"

"No! They wont. I told you, your fine. You can fight this." Vriska said, slamming a hand against the window. "Just keep fighting. For as long as you can. I'll figure out a way to help you if I can. You know I wont let you die." Kanaya looked shocked for a moment, but then that faded into a smile, and she nodded. "Good. I'm going to go and get sprayed down, then see how Karkat's doing. I probably scared him a little more than I should have."

"You would." Kanaya laughed, looking away. "Don't torture him too much. We all know he's been through a lot tonight."

"I know."


	6. Chapter 6

Spraying down sounded almost exactly as the phrase meant. Basically, the Recon unit was full of a bunch of scardy-cats. Well, the ones that stayed in the base anyways. So as their way to make sure nothing contaminating got in, they hosed you down with a special substance, then gave your clothes a run through something similar that wouldn't stain or destroy your clothes. When Vriska got done, she pulled on a mechanics suit, zipping it all the way up before rolling up the pants and sleeves. This was one of the few articles of clothing they had for those who got sprayed down, at least until their clothes were dry and ready.

Vriska was very careful when she found Karkat. In a way, she felt bad for having scared him. Maybe it was because of her talk with Kanaya? "Karkat?" She asked quietly, seeing him sitting in the exact same article of clothing, hands resting palm up on his knees, eyes concentrated intently on them. But his eyes seemed to lack any form of emotion. It was almost like he'd disappeared, leaving behind an empty vessel. "Kar-"

"Is Kanaya going to die?" His voice sounded hoarse.

Vriska paused a little, taken-aback by this. What did she tell him? What she thought? What the doctors thought? Or what Kanaya seemed to know was the truth. "I don't know." She finally said, voice low.

"Am I going to die?" This time Karkat looked up, worry in his eyes.

Vriska shook her head. "I can't be certain about that, but if your talking about what you've become, then no, you're safe. That won't kill you."

"Why?" Karkat asked. "Why wont it kill me?"

Vriska sighed, sitting beside Karkat. "Remember when I first found you? How scared and confused you were?" Karkat nodded. "And that felt very different from how you're feeling now right? You're still scared and confused, but its not the same."

"Yeah..." Karkat said, sounding as if he didn't see where she was going with this.

"Well, when I first met you, you were scared and confused because you didn't know what was going on. You didn't understand why you were where you were, or why you were doing what you were. But I saw the Humanity in you, or what was left of it anyways. Because of that, I was able to make you what you are now. I made you Tainted instead of Infected."

"Yeah. I don't quite get that yet." Karkat sounded bored now.

Vriska let out an irritated snarl. "I'm getting to that." She said, glaring at him. "Think about it this way; when you're infected, it means that you have something that may or may not be curable. Like when the Black Plague happened. Lots of people died because they were infected by it, and there wasn't a cure. Now, if you're tainted, think of it more like...you have a dirty little secret that you don't want anyone to know about. Its not going to kill you to have it, nor is it really going to change how you act around people. Its simply something that you have."

"So what if you're cursed?" Karkat sounded like he'd just won the lottery or something, like he'd stumbled upon something very precious.

"Being cursed...can be described like if a witch were to curse you. You can't get rid of it, but it wont kill you. You can't really control it either. See, when you're tainted or infected, it means that you contracted it from being around an infected, or a cursed person who hasn't had their disease secluded. However, when you're cursed...well you get it from those which weren't human to begin with." Vriska gave Karkat a half-assed smile. "When I first entered High School, I met someone...weird. He was a full-blown Vampire, but he didn't sparkle or anything, so you can imagine how confused I was."

"That only happens in Twilight." Karkat pointed out.

"I know. That was the joke." Vriska raised her brows momentarily at Karkat. "Anyways, I ended up upsetting him. I don't even remember how or why, but I did. Because of that, he cursed me to 'forever walk the night' as he said. For a while, nothing happened, so I just shrugged it off. After that, I started to get really bad headaches whenever I was exposed to direct sunlight. I started locking myself in my room with the lights off because it hurt that much. Fangs started showing up, my nails grew into claws and I could smell and hear everything. Even the beating of my families hearts, pushing blood through their fragile bodies." Vriska stopped, a pained look crossing her face. "When they finally caught up to me, they found me kneeling in the middle of a group of dead bodies-my family-holding my bloodied hands near my face just sobbing. I couldn't remember what happened, why they were dead. I just remembered being so hungry...thirsty. Nothing mom brought me seemed to help. Then everything was dark, and I came around to a dark, crimson coloured room, my family members dead, and Kanaya standing infront of me, looking petrified while pointing her weapon at me, ready to take me out."

Vriska looked over at Karkat to see his mouth hanging open, completely shocked by this. "And they let you live?"

"That would be your old facilities fault. The head resercher at the time was researching a way to change cursed individuals into something a little more...concrete. Being cursed means losing your memory for a while, while your cursed side comes out. So I was detained for a while, used as a guinie pig for someones benefit." Vriska leaned back, turning her eyes to the ceiling. "Luckily for me, it worked and I was assigned to a recon unit, paired up with the very girl who found me. With her help, I was re-introduced into the modern world, under the fake story that I'd been sent to see psychiatric help because of my families death. The story was that my dad had gotten mad and snapped, killing everyone and attempting to kill me. They used some of my wounds to back that story up. And ever since I've been working to keep this world in balance. Trying to keep everyone safe from a fate like mine."

"So...you can't ever be cured? You'll be this way for the rest of your life?" Karkat asked, seeming unsure of what he was saying.

"For as long as I live, yes." Vriska nodded. "Meanwhile with you, your weapons are your curse. While you don't pull all of it out, when you have your weapons in hand, your pretty much completely human again. I think the only thing that will remain for you, are the enhanced hearing and vision. Eventually, the disease will die off and you'll become human again, with a few enhancements."

"And you'll forever be a vampire. You'll forever be cursed. What about Kanaya?"

Vriska shook her head. "I don't know much about her past. I just know that she's been part of this longer than I have. All I know is that she was cursed by a pixie, so she was basically in the same boat as me. Mind you, pixies are a lot nicer than you'd imagine. They're only...blood thirsty when they're angry. They used her curse to their benefit, and when I was 'cured' so to speak, they helped make sure that she wouldn't lash out when angered, so she was able to return to school and lead a some-what normal life. Anyways, the only way to really cure a cursed, is to kill the person who cursed you. If someone else gets them, then you'll remain cursed forever. Or, you'll turn into whatever cursed you, just with a more human like mind-set. If that happens to me, I wont be able to use my weapon anymore. The fact that I can means that he's still alive somewhere. Hiding."

"So...if I were to kill the person who did this to me?" Karkat pondered.

"You and any other infected they created, would be cured. Any cursed they created, would remain the same." Vriska said.

"So then why wasn't Kanaya cured of the werewolf DNA when you killed...when you killed the werewolf?" Karkat asked. "Wasn't she infected by him?"

"Yeah, she was." Vriska said. "But I think it might have something to do with who killed him, or the fact that they were related. Or that she'd been cursed already, so she's technically a pixie." Vriska rubbed at her temples, the thought of how all that worked beginning to give her a headache. "So...do you know who infected you?"

Karkat shook his head. "No. I just remember my canines growing longer, sharper and then..." Karkats face contorted into one of pain.

"I see." Vriska's brows meshed. "How long ago was that?"

Karkat thought for a while. "A couple days ago at most I'd say. Maybe five at most? I just noticed the fangs like...yesterday."

"Yesterday?" Vriska asked. "So it might've been really recently. That's why my skin was crawling. You were around, another vampire. Maybe there was another lurking in the background that I didn't notice. Were you bitten at all? By anyone, anywhere."

"No. Not recently anyways. The last time I was bitten by a human was like...forever ago because my younger sister was teething." Karkat said.

"I see." This was becoming difficult. It was starting to sound like it was someone in the class or school who could've given it to him easily without him noticing. Maybe a friend of his. "Well, I suppose there isn't much more we can do there now is there?"

"How do I get my weapon to come out?" Karkat asked.

"Remember where I'd had my hand? When I was changing you?"

"Yeah."

"You hold your hand there. It'll feel warm. Then you just make like you're grabbing onto them, and pull out. They'll materialize as your pulling away. Here, I'll show you." Vriska got to her feet, moving away from Karkat so she could pull her weapon out. She took in a deep breath, then held her hand over her chest for a second before closing it on nothing and moving it away. Just like she'd said, it begain materializing in her hand, growing outwards before the blade started to appear at her chest. When she saw it, she pulled away quickly, swiping the blade through the air as if she were cutting someone down. "See? Simple. Just don't go too fast or you'll end up hurting yourself. Badly. The more you work with it, the faster you'll be able to go."

"Wow." Karkat said, looking down at his chest before placing a hand on it. It was warm there, which made him jump and pull his hand away. Nothing came out. "Nothing happened."

"Because you didn't make like you were pulling it out. Your weapon was waiting there ready to be of use, but you didn't grab it." Vriska gave him a smile. "You'll get it, don't worry."

"You sound so sure of that."

"Because I know better than to judge a book by its cover."

Karkat's brow twitched, causing a quirky grin to appear on his face. "Really now?" It was almost like Karkat was attempting to prove her otherwise, but he tried again. He wanted to see them for all they were worth, not just vaguely in the dark. Karkat put his hand back at his chest. He could feel them there, their warmth, and when he closed his eyes he could kind of make out their shape. He knew what they were, but it was scary to think that they were inside of him somewhere, hiding so no one would see them. Freak out and be scared of him.

"Take your time. It's scary the first time you do it, but you'll get used to it, and its better you get used to it before we end up in another fight." Vriska said. "The last thing I need is you freaking out on the battle field and getting hurt."

"I'm not going to be that much of a hindrance to you. Just watch, I'll do it right now!" Karkat said, then made like he'd grabbed onto a handle and pulled his hand away from his chest. Karkat choked a little, not really expecting the sensation that came with it. It was almost like he was pulling at his own soul, trying to tear it away from his body. Vriska clapped, causing Karkat to look wearily up from the floor. Had he done it?

"Almost kiddo. You got the right idea, but you need to remember that you have two weapons. Probably hurt there a little eh?"

Karkat nodded. "It felt like I was trying to rip my soul out." Karkat's eyes had wandered to his empty hand. He'd felt it there, so why hadn't one of them come out? Why was there nothing there?

"When you have two weapons, you can pull them out one at a time, but you need to be experienced with that, so for now you'll need to pull both out at the same time. That's why it felt so weird when you tried pulling one out. You got careless and tried pulling the other out at an un-natural angle, and so they both got stuck, hence why it felt like you were trying to rip your soul out. If you grab both of them at the same time, it wont happen."

"Why do you always sound like you know so much about this?" Karkat asked, looking angered at her. "Why do you always know what to do?"

"Trust me Karkat, when you've lived as long as I have, you tend to lose a few people along the way. When someone dies because of you, you tend to try and fix the mistakes you've made. But nothing will bring them back." Vriska's voice was low as she sucked in her bottom lip and balled her fists at her side. Without saying anything, she turned and left the room.

"Wait! Vriska, I'm sorry. I didn't-" Karkat called after her, but she didn't even twitch to let him know she heard him. Just kept walking. Karkat snarled at himself, looking down to his hand. "I promise I wont be a hindrance to you. I'll figure this out one way or another, and I'll make sure you never look that sad again." Karkat clenched his hand, almost as if the simple motion made his words into a promise he was no longer aloud to break.


	7. Chapter 7

**Warning. Smut. And Karkat. You'll understand when you get there.**

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><p>"Where have you been? I've been so worried about you." Feferi's voice echoed the moment Vriska walked into the appartment. Feferi popped around the corner just as she stopped talking.<p>

"I had something I needed to take care of. Don't worry, it wasn't anything dangerous, just an errand." Half a lie. Vriska didn't bother looking at Feferi as she shrugged off her coat and hung it up on the wall.

"Lies! Why are you always lying to me?!" Feferi's shriek made Vriska look towards her wide eyed. She was more than a little alarmed. This was the first time she'd heard Feferi talk this way. "You were out doing something stupid again weren't you? What are you up to Vriska? You can tell me, we're supposed to be best friends aren't we?" Vriska sucked in her lip. She hated when Feferi talked that way. "Or should we really only be friends? Sometimes I wonder Vriska. You're never home, you're into bad habits and when I ask you about it, you say nothing. Maybe we'd be better off as friends." Feferi's voice had shrunk into a whisper, face turned so she didn't have to look at Vriska anymore.

People had bullied Feferi for her preference in gender when she was younger, so she'd grown up learning to like men. It was their little secret. And part of the reason why they'd moved in together. No one had known any better. No one had known they were dating. No one would know unless they both trusted the person. Feferi's mother thought she'd moved out simply to prove she could survive on her own, find her own path, and chose a room mate to make things a little more affordable. Vriska's mother? She could've cared less. Her mother had always found her to be such a burden, and she was more than a little thrilled when Vriska told her she was leaving. By that, she meant she'd thrown all of Vriska's stuff out onto the lawn to get her out as fast as possible.

Vriska stepped forward timidly, hesitating for a moment as she thought about reaching out to Feferi. She wanted so badly to say something, but she didn't want to make Feferi hate her more. And what if she told the truth? What then? Vriska swallowed the thought from her mind, pushing forward. The moment her hands were upon her shoulder, Feferi looked up, a little shocked as Vriska pressed her lips to Feferi's. "I don't want that. Please don't." Vriska whispered, afraid if she raised her voice anymore she'd end up crying. She pulled Feferi into her arms, hugging her as tightly as she could. "I'm so sorry. Please believe me."

"How am I supposed to believe you, when you won't tell me the truth?" Feferi asked. "Why can't you just tell me what you're doing?"

Vriska stayed quiet for a moment, thinking. She didn't want to tell Feferi what was going on right now. It was all very complicated, and just the thought gave her a headache. Instead, she attempted to get Feferi's mind off the topic for the moment. Anything to give her a bit of time, to sway her into a mood where blowing her off from the truth wouldn't agrivate her more. Slowly, Vriska trailed kissed from the base of her ear down to her collar bone.

"Hey, no hickies ok? They're so hard to- ah!" Feferi smacked Vriska up side the head. "I said no hickies!" She said irritated as she looked at Vriska, who only smiled apologetically. "Whatever, just do them where I can cover them up. Jesus you're so rude."

"I haven't really seen you bat me off before I get around to giving one, so who's rude here?" Vriska countered. Feferi just rolled her eyes, allowing Vriska to steer her towards the couch.

"Why here?" She asked as she bumped into the coffee table, throwing her hands down to catch them since Vriska wasn't fast enough to stop.

"You really want to take this back to the room? That's so fucking far away. This is much closer." Vriska gave her a cocky grin. Feferi sighed, giving her a slight glare, but she wouldn't fight it off. Instead she wormed out from under Vriska and lept onto the couch, pulling her skirt up a little to reveal her legs as she undid a couple buttons on her shirt. Vriska let out a slight giggle, tailing after her.

"I don't think you could've made it to the room if you're already eager to lose the clothes." Vriska smirked.

"You were the one complaining. I was simply instigating the situation." Feferi countered. Vriska's smile faltered.

"Whatever." Vriska said with a shrug, lowering herself so she could continue placing kisses on her. She got down to Feferi's bra before grumbling at it. Feferi nochalantly started to play with Vriska's hair while lifting herself up slightly so Vriska could fumble with the clasp before tearing it off and throwing it to the floor.

"Jesus calm down its just a bra." Feferi giggled, but Vriska would have none of that. Vriska quieted her with a kiss upon her lips, before returning to where she left off, slowly loosening the buttons on her shirt as she worked her way down. Feferi squeaked when she reached her naval. This made Vriska giggle, the vibrations from her lips tickling Feferi's tummy, which in turn, made her giggle too.

Vriska ran her tounge back up Feferi's torso as she pushed her shirt off, stopping when she came to her nipple where she licked and sucked at it, elicting a few moans from Feferi. All she really had to do was occupy her enough so she wouldn't notice her wandering hands. First they were at her side, fingers playing just above her butt before they skittered around and squirmed their way into her underwear. Feferi's leg twitched a little and her grasp on Vriska's hair tightened. While Vriska's fingers explored Feferi's nether-regions, Feferi's decided they needed to do something about Vriska's shirt, and proptly started working it off. Vriska raised herself up a little so Feferi could pull her shirt off, then she quickly swooped down to mash her lips to Feferi's.

They were more than a little wrapped up in eachother when Vriska pushed Feferi's skirt and underwear down, hand returning to Feferi before slowly pushing a finger inside her. "Ah!" Feferi moaned, tilting her head back a little as she adjusted herself to allow Vriska to push another finger in.

That's when the door burst open, smacking off the wall behind it. Vriska's head popped up just in time to see Karkat bust around the corner, breathing heavily. Without much thinking, she pulled her fingers out and attempted to cover her girlfriend up as Karkat's eyes grew wide.

"Oh shit I-I'm sorry!" He said loudly, more than a little flustered as he turned around and started for the door. "I didn't-oh shit I should've knocked."

"Damn fucking straight you should've knocked you little shit." Vriska yelled, helping Feferi to cover herself up.

"Who is this?" Feferi asked alarmed. "How do you know him?"

"He's the situation I was dealing with." Vriska said, getting up so she could storm over to Karkat. "I'll explain more in a moment, just stay there ok?" She put an arm around Karkat so she could lead him to the kitchen before shoving him in and running to the front door, slamming it shut. "What the fucks so important huh?" She was yelling this before she'd even made it back to the kitchen.

Karkat looked around, a little nervous before he spoke up. "Its Kanaya." That alone did it for Vriska. That was all she needed to know as her world suddenly crumbled and went black. She didn't need him to say it. She already knew. Vriska felt the wall hitting her back before she felt the floor under her, vision going black. "I'm so sorry." Karkat whispered.

"Vriska? What's wrong?" Feferi sounded afraid. She tried to look at her, but everything was still black, and then her hearing went.

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><p>When she finally came to, she could hear Feferi, sounding frantic. She was yelling and crying at the same time. Karkat's voice was there too, but he sounded scared.<p>

"What the fucks going on?" Feferi screamed at him. That was a first. Her swearing.

"I-I can't tell you if she hasn't already. Her friend Kanaya's in the hospital and I thought I should tell her." He studdered. She had to give him kudos for the cover, though it was technically true.

"Who the fuck are you anyways? How do you know her? And why are you hiding secrets too?" Feferi asked. There was a loud bang. She must've pushed him.

Vriska blinked. The world was bright at first, but then it dimmed down and everything started to come into view. _SMACK!_ Vriska's head snapped up to look in the direction of the origional sound as a loud thud echoed.

"Fef stop!" Vriska yelled, jumping to her feet. She grabbed Feferi, pulling her away from Karkat. She'd started beating him, obviously needing to take her frustration out on someone. That didn't stop her though. Now she was trying to kick at Karkat who now knelt on the floor holding his face. "Calm the fuck down and I'll tell you what's going on." Vriska yelled, shoving Feferi into the counter. "Just calm down."

Feferi stood there for a moment, back to Vriska before she put her head in her hands, then fell to the floor sobbing. "Why does someone else get your trust before me? Why are you always pushing me away?"

Karkat looked from Feferi to Vriska as she moved to Feferi, sitting on the floor so she could hold her girlfriend. Feferi didn't like that and tried to elbow her away, but she held strong. "The only reason he knows, is because he's part of the situation." Vriska explained. "I'm part of an organization that hunts supernatural beings that go rouge. He was one of them, but I was tired of hurting the people I know or care for, so I helped him gain back what sanity he was still clinging to. Only those who possess some sort of connection to supernatural beings are allowed in this organization. You have to be one of them, or have been one at one point in your life."

"You're lying." Feferi said, still hiding behind her hands.

"I'm not this time. I promise."

"Prove it."

Vriska hesitated, looking scared, but pried one of Feferi's hands from her face. Feferi's eyes followed her hand, watching intently as Vriska opened her mouth and sank her fangs into Feferi's wrist. At first, she looked horrified, like she couldn't understand why Vriska was biting her, but then Vriska licked the wound shut, and her horrified looke changed to one of complete fear.

"Y-your..." She stammered, un-able to comprehend a complete sentence.

"A vampire. Not a whole one. I was at one point though. This is what's left of what I used to be. This is what Karkat is now." And with that, everything Vriska had feared came crashing down. Feferi scrambled away from Vriska, but this time she wouldn't chase after her. Not when she looked so scared. The moment Feferi realized how close she was to Karkat though, she lept to her feet and started backing away from them.

"You're both freaks." She whispered, and then she was gone. Vriska closed her eyes, keeping her head down as she tried to compose herself.

"I'm so sorry." Karkat said.

"Lets go." Vriska said, getting to her feet. She grabbed her shirt and threw it back on, shoved her feet into her shoes and tucked her jacket under her arm, leaving Karkat at the kitchen entrance staring at Vriska's back as she walked down the Appartment hall. Karkat looked around for a moment before taking his hand away from his face. It wasn't bleeding anymore, which was great. He went to the sink, rinced his hand off, and made to leave, but stopped when the fridge caught his attention. He should leave Feferi a note. This was his fault.

Karkat raced off after Vriska, closing the door behind him. On the coffee table he left a note that read;

_Dear Feferi,_

_I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to ruin your relationship with Vriska. Or barge in on you guys like that. Please, if you return and see this note, give her another chance. From what I know, she's been this way for a very long time, and she hasn't hurt you yet. I don't think she wants to either. She was trying to keep you safe. _

_My deepest apologies_

_Karkat_


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry its a little short guys! I'm really tired...and I thought I'd be able to update my other fanfictions before bed...guess I'll be doing that in the morning. Look forward to 'A Devil's Game' next if you also follow that, then SOLH!**

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><p>"Are you going to be ok?" Karkat asked after a while of walking in silence. The sky seemed to be mimicing her emotions, but instead it shed the tears for her. It was only a light rain, nothing too worry some.<p>

Vriska looked around for a moment before nodding her head. "Yeah." She managed to choke out. "I just..." Vriska shook her head and shrugged, unable to find words to fit her train of thought.

"I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to ruin your relationship like that. I had no idea." Karkat rubbed his arm a little awkwardly. How was he supposed to know? He barely knew this girl, and yet everything he did seemed to revolve around her.

"No one really does. What we do...who we are...its very...private." Vriska settled on the word 'private' looking up with an irritated expression. "How did you even know where I lived?" Vriska stopped, pulling her hands out of her pocket to give him an incredilous look. "What, did you stalk me home or something?"

"N-no! Its not like that! Kanaya she-" Karkat stopped, looking around as if the words he needed were hiding in the scenery some where. "I knew I needed to tell you, so I asked. I didn't know how else to get a hold of you."

Vriska turned away, sighing through her nose heavily as she continued on. "Is she going to be ok?" She asked, shoving her hands back in her pockets.

"I'm not sure. Everyone was racing to her room, so I asked and came here. I know about as much as you do at the moment." Karkat's voice dropped, like he was ashamed of how little he knew. Should he have stayed behind and waited until he knew for certain? But what if she ended up dying by then. The least he could do was try to get Vriska there before that happened. "All I've done is made your day worse. I'm so sorry."

"Don't apologize. One of them you had nothing to do with. And the other you couldn't really control. In a way, I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. And Fef was kind of a ticking time bomb there anyways. This would've happened one way or another. I just-I just wish I could have figured out a way to tell her without this happening. That's what I was so afraid of. Why I didn't tell her for so long." Vriska looked over at Karkat, forcing a smile. "If you hadn't been there when we were, you might be dead right now, and I would've never came home tonight. Fef would've been pissed and we probably would've gotten in a big fight when I got home. Trust me, she didn't think the best of me before this."

"What, she think you were doing drugs or something?"

"You know, for someone who just met me, you seem to have a pretty accurate assumption of my life." Vriska narrowed her eyes jokingly at Karkat. "But yes. Well, yes and no. She assumed drugs, but she also assumed other things. My attitude and demenor probably don't help that either. She assumed I was whoring myself out and begged me to stop. I tried assuring her that nothing like that was happening. That the only drugs I was into were smokes. Which reminds me." Vriska stopped, patting herself over a couple times before looking at the ground around her. "Shit. Must've left them some where."

"You smoke? Seriously? Why?" Karkat asked. The amount of questions in one sentence made Vriska glare at him again, but her face settled into a normal emotion before she answered.

"I don't know. Everytime someone asks I want to say 'it helps with the stress, it calms me down,' but now I'm not even sure. When I get really stressed and frustrated I have one, but in the end, I'm still stressed and frustrated. There is no ends to the means here. Its just blatantly putting it off."

"Why not try something else to relieve the stress?" Karkat offered.

"Oh trust me I try but you ruined that." Vriska rolled her head until she was looking at him slightly side ways, eye brows raised. Karkat's eyes got wide as he quickly looked away, face instantly heating up.

"S-so uh...I think that's the turn off." Karkat said, attempting to change the situation as he pointed off to their right.

The base was irrily quiet. Too quiet. It made Vriska's skin crawl, and not the normal kind. This made her skin crawl with fear, her heart fall into her stomache. Something was wrong. Something was off. Slowly, she made her way to where they were keeping Kanaya. As soon as she rounded the corner to the waiting room, she saw them. So many people, dressed in white, gloved hands holding their heads as they slouched over in their chairs, or leaned against the wall. At first, Vriska wasn't sure how to react, until the white smocks slowly started to reveal the red on them.

"Where is she?" Vriska's voice sounded foreign to her. As soon as she spoke, everyone started to lift their head and look at her. "Where is she?!" Vriska yelled. Now that sounded more like her.

"Vriska, listen. We tried all we could but we-" A man was approaching her, his bloodied up hands extended out to her.

"Where is she!" Vriska yelled again, shoving the man away. Karkat lept to life there, holding her back so she couldn't lash out at the man. At first, the man looked confused, unsure of what he should do. He looked back at his colligues, then returned his attention to her.

"Still where you left her, but she's gone Vriska."

That was all she needed to her. The moment she confirmed Kanaya's where abouts, she threw Karkat off and dashed away. She had to see this. She had to know for herself where her partner was and how she was doing. Kanaya wouldn't be done in so easily. That had been her brother that infected her. She would be ok.

Vriska skidded to a halt, using the edge of the window to stop her. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. Her eyes grew wide. When she had left, the room had been a pristine white. Now it was stained with blood. Kanaya had been laying on her back, hooked up to so many wires just to keep her alive. Now she was lazily wandering about, using the walls to keep her up, her clothes stained the same colour as the wall.

"Kanaya?" Vriska whispered, holding her hands to the window. Kanaya stopped moving, her head twitching slightly like she'd heard her. That's when Vriska realized what had happened. She'd started turning, but the pixie in her prohibited a full transformation. She wasn't here anymore. Her mind was gone. Vriska blinked, looking away. But how? Why her? "Kanaya. I'm so sorry." Her voice broke, hands balling up into fists as she let herself fall to the floor, fighting back tears.

Slowly, Vriska composed herself. She knew what was required of her, and she had to be brave. Kanaya would've done the same if the roles had been reversed. With a deep breath, Vriska pushed herself back onto her feet, took a moment to look at what used to be her friend, and walked into the room.

The moment the door opened, Kanaya stopped, cocked her head, and listened. There would be no sound. Vriska wouldn't allow herself to talk, for fear that it would break her composure and she would do something stupid. But she would have to. She would pretend like this was a normal hunt, just how her and Kanaya had wanted. "Any last words?" Vriska asked, feeling her composure already beginning to break. Kanaya turned around to face the intruder, and that's when Vriska pulled herself together for the last time. This was not her friend. Not anymore. Her eyes were cold and void of life, and her body was weak and frail. This was an imposter. Without hesitation, Vriska pulled her weapon out, weilding it like the reaper she was. "Le Petite Morte. No one will miss you." Kanaya growled, realizing what was going on, but she was unable to defend herself as Vriska easily sliced threw her chest, causing her to fall to her knees.

Kanaya touched her chest, then held her hands out, studying them. This time, when she raised her head, a pang of guilt rushed threw Vriska. This was her friend. A small smile flitted across Kanaya's lips. "Thank you." She whispered before her eyes fluttered and she collapsed.

"Kanaya..." Vriska whispered, striken before she knelt down. Hesitantly, she touched her friends shoulder. She was defiantly dead.

Vriska pulled her friend into her arms, letting silent tears slide down her face as she looked into the most peaceful face she'd ever seen. Even in death she'd managed to find peace, to find a way to smile. Vriska ran a hand over Kanaya's face, brushing stray strands of hair away. She wanted her full beauty to be seen, to be imprinted into her mind for the rest of her life. This was the last time she would see her friend. She wouldn't get a proper burial, if she got one at all. Her parents might not even get the body, depending on the story she created for them to hear. Vriska wouldn't be the one delivering it, but she would be the one writing it. It was critical that when a person's partner died, that they created the story of their death. It made it more believable.

Vriska looked down at Kanaya's body. She couldn't tell them something that would allow them access to her body. There wasn't a story she could think of that would explain the giant slash through her chest, and the probable changes her body went through from the transformation. Her parents would most likely want an autopsy, which would blow her cover instantly. The frustration alone was enough to make Vriska cry more, but that wasn't why she was crying again. Instead, she cried because she knew she couldn't make up a story for Kanaya. She cried because she wasn't sure she wanted to lie anymore, because her life was ruined, because she'd finally lost everyone she ever loved, and because she knew she would never get them back. No matter what she did, they were gone.

For once in her life, Vriska would shed tears that actually meant something.

Karkat stood beside the window, waiting for his partner to say her good byes, to hug her friend good bye, and let all those trapped emotions out.

And this time, he knew it wasn't his fault.

This time, he knew he couldn't fix it.


	9. Chapter 9

Vriska returned home by herself. It was odd knowing that no one was around. That no one would be around. Never to come home. She slammed the door a little hard behind her, some pent up emotions still getting out. Feferi hated her, and now her best friend was dead. Now she needed to figure out what to tell her parents so that they could in turn tell the rest of the school. School. Right. She still had to go back to that. And it wasn't like she could skip the day they held an assembly to let the students know another one of them was gone from the world, to say their good byes to her. It was so common here, because of the organization she put her trust into. So many kids went missing or died, either from having worked for them, or having been killed by them.

She couldn't force herself to sit on the couch, so instead sat on the floor in the kitchen. What to tell Kanaya's parents? They knew her. They knew she was friends with their daughter. Saying something like "There was an accident and she didn't make it." didn't seem right. They'd hate her for having survived or for having even gotten them in the accident. Plus, she figured the state of the body would make them question the story. Vriska put her head in her hands. Vivid images of her dead friend flickered behind her eyelids. Frail and damaged. A giant hole through her chest. How did she explain that to her parents? Even if the doctors patched it up, they'd still notice. They'd ask questions about why it looks like someone fixed it. She couldn't say that they'd gone to the hospital, because the doctors there would've called Kanaya's family.

"Why is this so hard?" Vriska asked herself. "Why can't it be easy? Why do we have to tell the parents of our partners, when we're already going through so much?" The door opening with a _bang_ made Vriska jump. Who the hell would be busting in here like tha-

"What the hell did you do to me?!" Feferi screamed, hands over her face, fingers producing a small enough crack for her to look through. Vriska didn't even need to ask. Her skin was crawling already. But how? She wasn't able to infect others. She wasn't a Vampire. "What's happening to me?" This time Feferi dropped her hands.

Vriska's eyes widened. All the tell tale signs of someone who had been bitten by a Vampire. Fangs, the slitted pupils, reddened iris, longer nails. Vriska started to shake her head. She didn't understand it either. "I-I didn't-" Vriska stammered.

"What's going on?" Feferi finally broke down and started crying, but the hatred never left her tone. "Fix me."

Vriska's eyes wandered around a moment before she composed herself. "Ok...Ok I can do that. I can fix you." Vriska stood up, taking Feferi by the wrist. "But first we need to cover you up." Vriska ran back to their room, grabbing a sheet off their bed and throwing it over Feferi. "Keep that tightly around you. Don't let your face or hands be seen, ok?" Feferi nodded quickly, tightening her hold on the sheet so that she was covered up by it. "What I'm about to do is dangerous, but I'll figure out how to fix that problem as we get there. If they ask, I found you wandering the ally's on my way home and detained you."

"Ok." Feferi whispered. Was she really in that much trouble? There was so much Feferi didn't know, but couldn't fix. Couldn't learn in such a short amount of time.

The moment they neared the Base, Vriska took a tight hold on Feferi. "I'm going to warn you now, its going to be hard to control your thirst in there. There are many species in there that you'll want, but you have to keep calm or they'll kill you. If you show any hesitation from your Humanity, they'll see you as a threat." This made Feferi release a sob. She was frightened beyond belief, and here was Vriska, sounding like this was nothing, being brave about it.

They walked through the doors together, recieving a few stares and glances from the few that were around. Vriska lead her down to where they'd kept Kanaya. The doctors there would detain Feferi and do a little bit of experimentation with her until they could pull out her weapon and make her an Infected. God. There was something she was going to have to explain. So many times she needed to explain this shit to people.

"Is the Doctor in?" Vriska asked one of the Medics standing around. They motioned towards where they'd been keeping Kanaya, which meant he was taking inventory on her body and trying to help with a cover up.

Vriska led Feferi to the room before stopping her. "Wait here." She said, then walked in. "Gamzee?"

A tall man with a some-what sleep deprived expression, and hair like a tumble-weed turned to look at her. "Ah Vriska! What can I do for ya?" He asked in his equally dopey tone.

"I have a bit of a problem." She turned around and motioned for Feferi to come in. "I found this one on the way home, but she still seems to be holding onto her Humanity. I think she's just poisioned, but she might be in the early stages of Infection since..." Vriska took of the sheet so Gamzee could see. "I haven't seen a poision victim display this."

"No. She's showing the same symptoms as you. She's definatly Infected. The fact she's remained stable this long is amazing." Gamzee came closer and started studying her.

"What do you mean this long?" Vriska asked out of curiosity. How long had she been like this.

"Tell me girl," Gamzee stared, completely ignoring Vriska. "how long have you been feeling like this? When did you notice the changes?"

Feferi looked to Vriska with the most scared look she'd ever seen. Vriska nodded, saying it was ok to tell him. "Uhm...since earlier today. Or evening more." Feferi stumbled. "I was fine before lunch, and a little after. Then I started to feel weird. I didn't notice the changes until around five when I went to have a shower and saw my face." Feferi was a convincing liar, Vriska gave her that. "I blanked for a while, and then she found me, and I was so scared." Feferi started crying now. Finally it was all setting in.

"Do you remember getting bit at all? By anyone. It could be someone you know, someone you dont, a pet perhaps?" Gamzee could already see the bite mark on her hand, he was simply doing this to see if he could find the culprit, but she wouldn't give out that information, so she just shook her head. "Well then." Gamzee turned away, pacing.

"Can we help her?" Vriska asked.

"It seems she was attacked by someone who had already been attacked themselves. That would explain why she's been able to hold on for more than ten hours. Or at least, that's what I'm estimating. Just going from Noon anyways." Gamzee shruged. "I can help her. It'll take a while though, since I'll need her to start changing. Start losing her Humanity. I'll have someone prepare a room for her. Now, here's the catch." Gamzee turned around to face them again. Vriska didn't like where this was going. "In order for her to return to a normal Human, she needs to find whom ever infected her. See, with you, you just need to find the being who attacked you, kill them, and whom ever they infected, will also be cured. She wont." Gamzee pointed to Feferi. "She needs to kill who ever infected her, before they find who infected them. If they're cured before that, she'll go mad and turn into a being herself."

Both Vriska and Feferi remained quiet. They both knew what this meant, and neither liked it.

In order to save Feferi, Vriska needed to die.


	10. Chapter 10

The first thing Vriska did when she left the Institution was hunt Karkat down. He needed to know. Know what she was thinking, what was going on, and what was enevetable. The one thing she'd never been told was where he lived, nor did she have a means to contact him. She instead, followed her instincts, waiting until her skin crawled from the presence of another Vampire. It took her a couple hours of wandering, but when she finally found the house, she didn't bother knocking, just walked right in.

Everyone was asleep, which she'd figured they would be. By the time illuminated on the microwave, it was one in the morning. Vriska tip-toed around the house, peering into each room until she found Karkat. She stood by his bed a moment, before ripping the blanket off him so hard he fell to the floor. Karkat woke with a start.

"What the he-" He started, but Vriska quickly covered his mouth. He was yelling much too loud for her liking. He fought against her hand a while before giving up.

"We have a problem." Was all Vriska said before she was pulling him to his feet and leading him outside.

The moment they were in his yard, Karkat started up again. "What do you mean, 'a problem'?" Karkat asked, eyes narrowed suspiciously at Vriska. "Kanaya's gone, Vriska. She can't be a problem anymore."

"I'm not talking about her!" Vriska yelled. That was one thing she figured she was never going to get used to. Having people talk about Kanaya that way. That she was dead. Vriska let out a tired sigh. She still needed to think of something to tell her parents. "Its Feferi." Vriska patted down her pockets then groaned. No smokes.

"Smokings bad for you." Karkat joked as he walked to the back door, opened it and reached around the corner to dig in a coat pocket. When he came back, he tossed her a pack. She gave him a confused expression. "Hey, you're not the only one with bad habits. Just don't take them all, my dad will notice." Vriska rolled her eyes, but happily took one. It wasn't her brand, but it'd been so long since she'd had one she could care less. "What happened to Feferi?" The tone in his voice was like steel. He knew something bad had happened to her.

Vriska tossed the pack back to Karkat, inhaled a long drag, then started. "Remember when I bit Feferi to show her that I was really a Vampire?" Karkat nodded. "Well apparently I turned her into one. But that's insain! I couldn't have possibly done that. I'm not a Vampire."

"Wait, wait. You turned her?" Karkat looked bewildered. He was believing this just as much as Vriska was.

"That's what I thought. Gamzee said so." When Karkat gave her a confused expression, she elaborated. "He's the head doctor dude there, lets just go with that. Anyways, he said the only way to save her was the same way to save me; she has to kill the one who turned her. But she has to do it before I kill the one who turned me, or she'll go mad and turn into a Vampire, and be able to turn people herself." Vriska bit on her lip. She hated this. Voicing it made it that much more true.

"What happens if the person you were supposed to kill is dead, and you turned into a Vampire?" Karkat asked. The thought had never occured to Vriska. She'd been told any directly affected individuals would all be cured once the person had been killed. If that were true, the Vampire who had infected her would still be alive.

"Gamzee said-" Vriska started, shaking her head.

"Gamzee's apparently said a lot of things that have yet to make sense." Karkat countered. "He said if you killed the Vampire who infected you, anyone he infected would be cured. He also said you wouldn't be able to infect anyone, but apparently that was a lie. What if he's just talking non-sence and the truth is who ever kills him first is the one who is cured? Everyone else turns into a Vampire? What if we're able to infect people once we're 'saved'," Karkat air quoted saved to imply what they were now. "and we don't even realize it because he's never said anything? What if you don't have to die for her to be saved?"

"Karkat I-" Vriska was again interrupted.

"No Vriska. There's no proof to Gamzee's words. Have you actually seen this happen yourself? Have any of your partners been saved?" Karkat hit a nerve there.

Vriska played with the end of her smoke, flicking it while she stared at the ground. "All of my partners have died. I haven't seen anyone kill the person who infected them." Her voice was soft. In total she'd only had three partners, and one of them was still alive. "I've had you, Kanaya and another girl named Aradia. And now I'll have Feferi to worry about."

Karkat stayed quiet for a moment. "I'm sorry about your losses, but it proves a point. In all the years you've been like this, you've yet to see someone cured."

"Aradia was different. She died on me many times." Vriska said. Karkat gave her a confused look. "She was infected by a Pheonix. Don't ask me how, but every time she died, her body would burst into flames and she'd be reborn. You'd think she'd never be able to die right? Those infected by a Pheonix have a different curse. We learned this the hard way. We managed to find who had infected her. With Pheonix's, you can't use fire, otherwise they'll just be reborn. You have to use a mixture of water and silver. Water extinguishes them, and since they're immortal like a Vampire, silver hurts them." Vriska stopped, brows meshing. She took this moment to take another drag from her smoke. "The moment we hurt that Pheonix, Aradia was hurt too. The Pheonix burst into flames screaming...and so did she."

"Wait...she was killed from killing the thing that infected her?" Karkat turned pale. That thought had never occured to him. That in killing whom ever infected you, you could be killed as well. "What happens if its the same for us?!"

Vriska shook her head. "I doubt it is. They would've done something with us if it was. Anyone infected by a Pheonix is now taken in by the Institution and given a job. Having them work out here is pointless. Nothing will save them now. If someone infected by a Vampire had died the moment they killed their infector, we wouldn't be out here either." Vriska pointed out. "We'd most likely be killed on site."

"That's if someone's managed to kill their infector." Karkat said. "What if we're the first to find out? What if none of us are safe?"

"Then you'll go mad with the knowledge." Vriska's voice was hard. "Keep up this mindset, and you'll kill everyone in that house while they sleep. Karkat, our Humanity is an unstable thing. Just because we have these," Vriska pulled out her weapon, turning it on Karkat. "does not mean we are saved, and I'll take down anyone who proves to be a threat to our existance."

Karkat remained quiet, eyes wide as he looked from the blade of her scythe to Vriska. Eventually he swallowed hard and gave a small nod, afraid if he moved his head too much he'd cut himself. Vriska dispursed her weapon. "So we find out if Gamzee's right?" Karkat offered, rubbing at his throat.

"Sounds better than assuming the worst." Vriska took a final drag from her smoke before tossing it to the ground and stomping it out. "Here's what I figure; you take Feferi as a partner. I'll find a new one, inform them of what's going on. We can work together to find the person who attacked me, and kill them...if she goes mad, kill her."

"I can't let you do that." The words came so quickly, even Karkat looked a little confused by his own words. "Why can't we make a group of three? Vriska, I can't let you sacrifice yourself to see if this pans out the way he says it will."

"What other option do we have?" Vriska asked. "If I die from killing my infector, and she goes mad because I got mine before her, I'll need someone to take her out. Even if I survive..." Vriska clenched her hands at her side. Even if she survived, she knew she wouldn't be able to kill Feferi. Her partners were a different story. They were simply around for a means of survival. Feferi was someone she loved and cared about. She couldn't crush that with her own hands. Someone else would have to do it.

"And what about me?" Karkat asked.

"What about you? If killing my infector kills me, hide. The Institution will come looking for you because-"

"Vriska, I was never attacked."

Vriska stared wide eyed. That was right. He'd never remembered being attacked by anyone. Nothing had bitten him. It was at that moment that it sunk in for both of them. The time limit Feferi had before she turned into Karkat.

Vriska grabbed Karkat's arm, lifting it so that she could inspect the one she'd bumped into the first day they'd met. Sure enough, there were long scratches across his arm where her hand would've dragged over it.

Vriska had infected Karkat. She'd been leathal the entire time.


	11. Chapter 11

**Wednesday, February 6th update**

**Also, this story took a turn I was not expecting. THE CHARACTERS HAVE A MIND OF THEIR OWN I NO LONGER CONTROL THEM. DAMN YOU VRISKA.**

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><p>Karkat studied his arm for a moment, the realization slowly coming to him. "You were..." He started, then stopped, not wanting to voice the words himself. His lips pressed into a tight line as hiw brows meshed. He was fighting with something inside of him, something that was conflicting.<p>

"I had no idea." Vriska said in a low voice, trying to make him feel better. Or to make herself feel better. This wasn't exactly helping her mental state at the moment.

"So what happens if you defeat your guy, and Feferi and I both go beserk?" Karkat asked, voice wavering slightly despite the hard tone to it.

"I don't know." Vriska honestly didn't know anymore. If she defeated her infector and they both went nuts, who was going to take out Feferi for her? Who would save Karkat?

"Vriska I-"

"Maybe it would be better if you killed me now." Vriska interrupted, letting his arm drop to his side as she stepped back slightly. Karkat's head shot up.

"Don't say that!" He yelled, probably loud enough to wake someone up.

"If I'm dead that means you and Feferi can be-"

"You're not listening to me!" Karkat roared. Ok, that time someone had to have woken up.

"And you're not-" Vriska was cut off by Karkat pressing his lips to hers. Vriska blinked surprised for a moment before he backed off, and she was left just staring wide eyed and confused at him. "What."

"Vriska, I like you. Honestly, being paired up with you in class wasn't exactly how I hoped to befriend you. I'd wanted to apologize for bumping into you earlier, but I..." Karkat wrinkled his nose, stairing down at the ground.

"I have a girlfriend." Vriska said flatly. "That I'm trying to save no doubt."

"I know. I just thought-"

"Thought what? That if you kissed me I'd break up with her? Forget about her and go out with you?" Vriska asked bewildered, like she couldn't believe he would bring something like that up.

"You know, you are the worst fucking listener in the history of listening." Karkat countered, getting defensive. This time Vriska stayed quiet, unable to believe this kid actually had a backbone. "I know you're dating Feferi. I wasn't attempting to make you two break up. Honestly, I'm not even sure I want to date you. I just felt like if you're going to die soon in order to save us, you should at least know."

"I'm sorry." Vriska apologized, lowering her voice. "I jumped to conclusions."

"You had every right to. I kissed you out of no where, for no apparent reason." Karkat said, phrasing his own apology.

"Next time, I'll listen to you so you don't have to jump to conclusions like that and make me get the wrong idea."

"Good. Now about saving the world and other extreme sports?" Karkat inquired, using the title of a book for his little play on words. Vriska had to laugh slightly, but she decided to roll with it.

"Well, in the words of a famous heroine, we kick butt and find the one responsible."

"So we have to grow wings?" Karkat offered, already liking that idea.

"Heavens no. Then we'd be on their radars more so than we are now." Vriska rolled her eyes. "What we do is find some bait. If we can find someone who may know the where abouts of their infector, we can tail them and see what happens when they kill them."

"How is that going to help us?" Karkat asked, referring to himself and Feferi. Vriska concidered this for a moment.

"There's got to be people in the organization who were infected by the same person. I'm sure if we start with a little digging, we can find people with the same infector. I'm sure by then Feferi will be allowed out and about, so we can have her doing a little recon for us and figuring out who is closer to finding their infector. One of us tails that person, while the other tails...lets call them the result. Once they kill their infector, we can see what happens to the result and use that information to guess the result of our situation." Vriska explained.

"So we'll be looking for Vampire candidates?" Karkat asked.

"Yes."

"So what happens if they go crazy when their infector is killed?" Karkat pushed, wanting her to say what he was assuming.

"We kill them."

* * *

><p>Vriska had more than a good reason to say that. If word got out to the Institution that killing your infector would send the other infected idividuals into a crazed, or maddened state, the remaining 'human' vampires would be killed. Her, Karkat and Feferi along with everyone else. Vriska was sure Feferi would be the first killed. She'd be the easiest target of the three. Then they'd be after her, but would probably get Karkat first. He wasn't as experienced and skilled as she was, and she could evade them far longer than most of the other Vampire infected could. But that wasn't Vriska. She couldn't just abandon people she knew and cared for that easily. She would stay behind and try to defend them until either they died, or she died. Chances are, they would die in the crossfire, and she would give up.<p>

Vriska had left Karkat alone back at his house, and returned to the Institution. She figured, if anything, she could probably persuade Gamzee into helping her gather a little information, especially if it would help further his research. Once back, she made a bee-line for where they were keeping Feferi. She was asleep, a mask held up to her face and a whole bunch of wires hooked up to her, but she was stable. At least, that's how it seemed, but she didn't want to find out otherwise. Gamzee wasn't too far away from Feferi's room. He was studying information he had gathered from her. Perfect.

"We need to talk." Vriska said the moment she was near him.

"About?" Gamzee asked, eyes still trained on his paper.

"I want to get some information regarding some people here. I don't have specific individuals in mind, but helping me would help you in the end." Vriska said. Gamzee looked up from his paper just long enough to give her a look that said she needed to try harder. "I want to find two people infected by the same vampire. I wish to find out what happens when one of them kills their infector. What happens to the person left behind? What happens to the person who killed the infector? Karkat and I believe this information could be helpful to our current situation, and it would be valuable information to you, since we would tell you everything that we know."

"And how would _that_ be valuable to me? It sounds like you're simply looking for information to help _your_self." The way he emphasised 'your' implied he knew about their situation. He knew what Vriska was and who had infected Feferi.

"I'm hoping to save them. To keep others from being hurt the same way they were. I was hoping if you helped me, the information we gathered would allow you to figure out how to treat, and deal with future cases like this. You already know what to look for. With our help, you'd know how to deal with them...even if in the end its not what I want." Vriska's voice was low, sad. She knew what would happen if their information revealed that they all needed to die.

"So you would trade your life, for my help?" Gamzee inquired.

"Gladly, if it means it may save theirs."

Gamzee rubbed at his chin a moment, thinking about this. "The person you need to see, holds all the information you require. He is a little bit of an...ass though." Gamzee made a face as he remembered this person.

"Where can I find him?" Vriska asked, already willing to take on this mission.

"He works for Information Processing. He's the best there is. You will find him on the lowest level of the Institution. Its solidary down there, well below the surface of the earth. He's powerful though, so be cautious." Gamzee flicked his eyes to Vriska to give her a long hard look for a moment.

"Understood. His name?"

"You wont need it."


	12. Update

**As of right now, consider me on a some-what Hiatus.**

**My stories will not be updating on a regular basis due to the following;**

**-I recently got a promotion at work, which is taking up a great deal of my time**

**-I am getting ready for a few conventions, which is taking up even more of my time**

**-I have been filming CMVs for the last couple days, which took up what remaining time I've had left.**

**I will be updating though, I'm just not 100% sure when at the moment. Chances are, I will update with whatever is supposed to be on that day, when I get down to writing. (Ie; if its Sunday when I decide to write, I will write for A Devil's Game.)**

**My Hiatus will most likely be done come June, and will last until August, when I will be going to another convention, and then will be moving out. During this time, I will still try to update/ will update with chapters I wrote before hand, but it will not have a concrete shedual anymore.**

**Come June, the updating shedual may change.**


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